Comment: Service par excellence

Everyone from chefs to restaurant managers to bar managers to restaurateurs — you get the picture — have spoken at length about quality of staff. So much so that we decided not talk about it again at the upcoming Chef & Ingredients Forum, while lightly touching the issue at Bar & Nightlife. That doesn’t mean the problem doesn’t exist anymore; however, I think the situation is improving significantly.

Last month I went to Jason Atherton’s Marina Social and also tried out the new Greek restaurant, Mythos Kouzina & Grill in JLT, launched by the founders of Elia, in Bur Dubai. At the former, they knew I was media, at the latter, they did not.

However, at both places, I was blown away by the excellent service [shout out to Tiffany at Marina Social and Malsha at Mythos], which goes to show that it doesn’t — and shouldn’t — matter who you are, service is equal for one and all. And it all comes down to training.

Upselling is also a skill that needs to be focused on when educating the front-of-house team. It is a factor that judges for both the Hotelier and Caterer Awards look at when picking their winners. What customers do not like is pushy staff. However, they will appreciate someone who listens to them, figure out what they want, and upsell based on those requirements. A successful front-of-house member is one who keeps the guest happy, and still keeps the dough rolling in.

The point is, when FOH team members know how to deal with customers, guests are going to come back. That translates directly into a better bottom line.

But with BOH now increasingly in front — think open kitchens — the chefs also need to be comfortable with talking to guests. InterContinental Dubai Marina executive pastry chef Manish Thakur discussed his property’s recruitment process and said that up until chef de partie level, “we were looking for people who could interact and communicate with the customers”.

And with the influx of today’s generation of extremely savvy diners, woe betide any chef who doesn’t know how to respond to a barrage of questions from his/her guests.

Boca head chef Maxime Le Van said that some people think of training as an ancillary department, which can also cause problems to arise.

And that’s the problem isn’t it? Training needs to be the number one priority, not the secondary. Your ROI will thank you for it.

Devina Divecha,
Senior Editor — Hospitality Group
Email: devina.divecha@itp.com
Social: @DevinaDivecha (Twitter/Instagram)
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